By KIM REID, the Georgian
The Stephenville airport has had its ups and downs, fought its battles, lost support, gained support, as well as services and airlines, yet today it still remains a strong part of the community of Stephenville and the Bay St. George region.
The Stephenville Airport was constructed when the United States acquired land for an Air Force base in 1941. A lease was first signed (for 867 acres of land) between the United Kingdom and the United States for a 99 year period.
Through subsequent leases and diplomatic notes, the U.S. obtained leases for the main base area of approximately 8,000 acres. [On June 23, 1948 the Stephenville Air Base was renamed the Ernest Harmon Air Force Base in honour of Captain Ernest Emery Harmon who was killed in an air crash in 1933.]
The initial construction of the base took place between 1941 and 1947 when family housing, a 600 seat theatre, a main headquarters, dining halls, and dorms were constructed.
In September of 1943, the Newfoundland Base Command transferred control of the Harmon field to the North Atlantic Wing, Air Transport Command. Later the base changed over to the Northeast Air Command in October of 1950.
From 1951 through 1957, major funding and construction began to completely reconstruct the runway, taxi way, apron and ramps of the airport. Two new hangars were also constructed which included an alert hangar and a double heavy bomb hangar.
Further construction went into a 100 bed hospital, airman dorms, schools, warehouses, engineering shops, more family units, and a heating plant.
The Harmon Air Force Base was quickly becoming an invaluable stopover and refueling point for overseas flights. The Stephenville News reported in its first edition in 1957 that Stephenville was the fastest growing town in Newfoundland. During the same year, the Canadian Department of Transportation constructed an air terminal building to accommodate domestic or civilian air traffic including Trans Canada Airlines (now Air Canada).
Less than 10 years later, in 1966, the U.S. Air Force Base removed its gates, personnel, and aircraft and sold the base to the Town of Stephenville for the price of one dollar.
In 1970 the Stephenville Airport's significant location was recognized when it was officially designated as an alternate in the Trans Oceanic Plane Stop.
Tom Rose, a former marketing manager of the Stephenville Airport, says Stephenville was selected as such an important stop for its proximity to the ocean and for the combination of a seaport and airport. The town's airport was also chosen for its flat topography but the biggest reason was the weather. The Stephenville Airport has the best clear weather record in the country.
"This airport is not affected by North East winds because we're protected by the Long Range mountains; landscaping here was simple with rockless sandy soil," adds Mr. Rose.
This air force base was the second largest in the world outside the continental United States.
"On Sept. 11 last year we had only a 400 foot ceiling and had it not been for that factor, we would have seen 30 more flights diverted here. We have the capacity to park up to 100 planes."
In the 1970s and 80s, the Stephenville Airport was humming as it was seeing up to 100,000 passengers per year. Eastern Provincial Airlines was largely responsible for those high numbers. Unfortunately in 1989, Air Canada pulled its services out of Stephenville, and First Air also decided not to fly into Stephenville because they couldn't get a joint agreement with Air Canada due to their fears of hurting Air Nova.
The next blow to the airport came from Eastern Provincial. If it had still been under government regulation, it would have been forced to stay in Stephenville but airport manager Willie MacNeil says deregulation allowed more freedom for airlines.
"With Air Canada gone, people outside this area were getting the impression that the Stephenville station was closed," recalls Mr. MacNeil.
At this time, the Deer Lake airport was continuously upgrading and improving its services while Stephenville was falling behind. Some good news finally came when a new policy for the privatization of airports came into effect in 1995.
"Government was getting out of the airport business and becoming more like regulators."
The Stephenville Airport was privatized in 1998 with ownership passing to the Stephenville Airport Corporation, formed in the early 1990's.
Transport Canada wasn't finished with the local airport yet, though. They began looking into plans to downsize the Stephenville Airport, especially the runway. Its 10,000 foot length has been a major selling point for this airport. In 1992, $1.6 million was awarded to the airport for general improvements and upgrades.
The airport never did lose its runway but it did lose its Flight Services Station (FSS) in 1995 because it didn't meet the 20,000 aircraft movement requirement. But once again the Stephenville Airport staff went to work, and built its own Stephenville Radio Centre.
Navcan (or privatized) navigation staff returned to Stephenville where they worked with staff here to train and get this station up and running. Since that time, the airport corporation has re-paved runways and upgraded seals, replaced five hazard beacons, and are currently upgrading the lighting system.
The airport has also established a private radio station for better service to flights with more current weather information. Staff have also taken on a refueling business and this airport has its own ground handling service.
Physical improvements noticeable at the airport are the continuous repairs and upgrading of existing buildings; and the old air traffic control tower and its neighboring hangar have been torn down. Environmental cleanup is ongoing with the recent removal of a large number of underground storage tanks left over from the days of the American base.
Concerns still remain for those running the Stephenville Airport since the Sept. 11 attacks last year which led to the loss of customs service.
All airports are now required to have a customs official present for every foreign flight. This means one hour's notice must be given by Stephenville Airport for an agent to drive here from Corner Brook.
"We've seen a significant drop in international traffic but domestic flights are up, with what seems to be more using this airport than in previous years," says Mr. MacNeil.
The airport corporation is not taking the customs decision sitting down, and have been lobbying to have a customs agent remain at the Stephenville airport as was the case in the past.
The Stephenville Airport has proved itself quite capable of overcoming obstacles with the support of the Bay St. George area, the Town of Stephenville, and the Stephenville Airport Corporation.
Despite the ongoing competition with the Deer Lake airport and the constant ups and down with airline companies, this airport has thrived and survived in the past and residents are determined it will do the same in years to come.